Renault Nissan to bring Alto, Nano competitor under Datsun

Datsun Go entry level hatchback was expected to do big numbers, somehow didn’t put up that big of a show, yet. Now, Nissan along with Renault, will bring a 2+ lakh car to India and place it beneath Go with Datsun badge.

To compete in the spartan A segment space, Mr. Andy Palmer, Chief Planning Officer – Nissan Global, confirmed that a new car will be developed and manufactured out of India under Datsun brand and pitched as a volume-model in India.

It will be pitted against Maruti Alto 800 and Tata Nano. Latter is continually being spied on test with upgraded features, chiefly, rear hatch door to enable boot access and Automated Manual Transmission (AMT). It is almost certain that Nano will be better received with aforementioned facilities.

There is a remote chance that Maruti would fit AMT in Alto 800, judging from Celerio’s success and Tata’s attempt in most affordable car next to Maruti’s. By the time new Datsun smaller car comes into picture, competition in A segment would be more impregnable.

Nissan’s earlier attempt to penetrate small car market didn’t creep as well as expected. Datsun Go is selling about 2,000 units a month, against projected figure of 4,000 to 5,000. While one reason may stand out that it is competing with unassailable Maruti Alto and Hyundai Eon, no so strong dealership network could also be the cause of low sales of Datsun Go.

Nissan will plug the gap between target customers and dealers, making Go go beyond its current reach. Mr. Palmer said Datsun and Nissan are in the works of capturing at least 10% market share, against current crumb size of 2%.